Mystic - EN version

Chapter 47 : Sword duel

As soon as she set foot on the courtyard floor, Clave saw him. Arthur was staring at her intently, waiting for her to approach him.

– At last! Come, young girl, he shouted.

Clave tightened the grip on his sword and suddenly raised it towards his opponent.

– Already? exclaimed the latter, with the same blank, immovable, marble-cold expression he always wore. Can't we have a quiet chat first? We haven't seen each other since Griselda took you away, have we, Princess Mystic?

He whispered these last words with obvious mockery. He apparently considered the young girl too naive or too weak to deserve the Crown. But she was about to prove him wrong.

– Where's the Crown? asked Noah's father.

– You don't need to know.

He glanced at the upper floors of the castle, but said nothing more. Clave guessed that he could sense the magic contained in the Crown. So he'd have no trouble getting it back if the young girl lost to him.

– Well..., he continued. We both know what we want, and it happens to be the same thing: the Crown.

– Wrong. I want to carry out the mission I've been given.

– Like a little dog, then?

Clave bit her lip in anger, then took a step forward.

– Keep your mouth shut. You don't know anything about why I'm doing this.

– It's me who should be saying that, young girl, growled Arthur.

– This discussion is getting us nowhere. Let's stop here.

– Not every discussion has to lead to something... But since you want it to. I can't wait to see the outcome of this fight.

Clave said nothing more.

Arthur held out his hand in front of him, and created, without any visible sign of effort, a long sword as dark as night. Then he waved his hand, and four people, three women and a man, stepped into the courtyard.

– Your allies against my allies, and you against me. This way, we're on an equal footing.

Clave had no right to refuse.

And so the fight began. Arthur swiftly swung his sword at the young girl. She had time to parry with a thin shield, but it broke and she almost toppled backwards. She took a few steps backwards, her long, unwieldy blade pointed at the ground. Was she really going to be able to strike back if she couldn't use it properly?

She made it dance through the air, trying to reach her opponent. One shot, two shots into nothing. He dodged each attack with surprising agility. What's more, he laughed at each blow, and Clave struggled to avoid him. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her friends fighting Duke Arthur's allies, and they seemed to be doing much better than she was.

After a long moment, during which the young girl kept spinning round and round, moving forward only to fall back again, she managed to land a blow on Arthur, grazing his left arm. The man looked surprised, taken aback by the fact that Clave, despite being half as powerful as he was, had managed to hit him.

– This is going to take longer than I thought, he growled, his smooth façade cracking slightly.

At these words, a wave of energy and motivation swept over the blonde. With more concentration, she was going to be able to defeat him, once and for all. She began to move faster and faster. Duke Arthur seemed increasingly destabilised, and Clave was gaining on him. But then, inevitably, everything changed. As her opponent's black blade cut into her side, she realised that she was still not up to the task. She collapsed heavily, struck by the pain. She groaned, gritting her teeth. When she looked up at Arthur, he seemed bigger than ever.

But that was all the more reason to pull him down.

Without thinking, Clave straightened up and, with an agile but trembling movement, stuck a golden sabre into Arthur's shoulder. Then, mustering all her strength in her arm, she pushed and pressed the blade as deeply as possible into the Duke's shoulder, to prevent him from moving. This drew a groan of pain from him, which gave Clave a disturbing sense of satisfaction. He was down, she was up. Had she won? Immediately, everything stopped. Her allies, all scattered across the courtyard, stopped. They tried to approach Arthur, but Clave noticed, out of the corner of her eye, that Griselda was blocking them in a large cage; after all, shields were her speciality.

– Clave!

Noah rushed towards her.

"He doesn't seem to be hurt" thought the young girl, reassured.

– I can't believe you did it! he gasped.

– Nice...

– No! I didn't mean it like that.

Clave laughed, then the pain reminded her of her wound. She looked at her side: a scarlet stain was beginning to form on her shirt like a poppy.

– Hey... Hey! Clave!

A black cloud blocked the blonde's vision and she began to wobble. As she clung desperately to Noah, she met Arthur's gaze. It expressed almost nothing, it was empty. He just seemed disappointed about something. Then she closed her eyes.

But she knew she had won. She had beaten Arthur.